While skateboarding competitions have been held in Pagosa Springs before, last Saturday saw the first one in the town’s new skate park in Yamaguchi Park.

With over 20 skaters signed up to participate in the competition, the field was quickly narrowed to 14, then six finalists.

The street portion of the contest was done in the Street League format and broken down into three sections: Runs, Best Trick and the final Big Section. Twenty-one competitors got the chance to show their stuff in the Runs portion of the event, with two 30-second runs for each competitor and the top scorers moved on to Round 2.

Joshua Billings was a standout and took an early lead with consistent skating and strong tricks. Following the elimination round, 14 skaters moved on to the Best Trick portion of the contest. T.J. Robinson was the standout in this section, stomping the biggest trick of the day with a kickflip off the quarter pipe to flat. Daniel Roeder also stomped a large 360 flip on the hip, securing his spot among the top six finalists.

After eight skaters were eliminated following the Best Trick competition, six skaters moved on to skate in the finals.

Sean Lee landed a 50-50 backside 180 off the big ledge and a 5-0 frontside 180 off the big ledge, landing him a third place overall. Nate Sickness showed up and brought the clean and consistent old-school style to the table, doing original tricks like melon grabs and power slides through the big section earning him a second place overall finish.

But, it was Joshua Billings who pulled out the biggest and the smoothest tricks, giving him the first-place overall title and winning a long board donated by Never Summer Industries.

The standout in the beginner category was five-year-old Rico Duenas who swept the competition and awed the crowd with his aggressive skating style and overall awesomeness.

Final results for the 2012 Pagosa Skate Contest:

First — Joshua Billings.

Second — Nate Sickness.

Third— Sean Lee.

Fourth — T.J. Robinson.

Fifth — Joe Weber.

Thanks to all the skaters who came out to compete or just spend some time on our new concrete. Also, thanks to the families and other supporters who helped make this first-ever competition at our new skate park a huge success.

Finally, a special thanks to all who donated items for the auction, purchased sponsorship tiles and donated their time, money and hard work to the cause of building Phase II of the park.

Donations for the next phase can be made through Paypal: coloradoskateparks.org/current-projects/pagosa-springs-phase-ii/ or by going to the Skaters Coalition for Concrete website at www.skaterscoalitionforconcrete.com/ and clicking on the “Donate” button.